


A Ring Pop And A Valentine

by wibblywobblydemonydeducythings



Category: Supernatural, sabriel - Fandom
Genre: Background Destiel, Bully!Gabe, Bullying, M/M, Sabriel - Freeform, Sabriel Bigbang, big brother!Cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-13 03:32:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3366128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wibblywobblydemonydeducythings/pseuds/wibblywobblydemonydeducythings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*“I was obliviously content with my choices and sexuality until I met you.” The words felt like vomit coming out - he had no control over it and it left a nasty after-taste in his mouth.*</p><p>When Sam moves, yet again, with his father and brother to a new town, he doesn't expect to have friends. Neither does he expect to fall in love, but the biggest surprise was when the one he fell in love with, was the one bullying him and making his life miserable. What happens when Dean and Cas start dating? And when Charlie decides to help Sam out with all of this? Find out...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First and most important, a thank you to my beta Meg. I could have never done this without you! I love you!  
> Second this is my first time entering the bigbang, hope it's to your liking.  
> And third, this was originally a prompt from a friend on Tumblr, I hope she gets to check it out as it's finally done.

“You really didn’t need to walk me to school, Dean! I’m 17!” Sam said angrily.

He really was embarrassed about it. Sam was never the popular kid at his many schools. Honestly, he was never a part of anything. He was always the freak, the one they all picked on. Even though he was freakishly tall and could probably kick everyone’s ass, he still kept to himself.

“Why not just bash their heads in?!?” his brother always asked.

“No use making things worse,” he would reply.

Dean was very protective of his brother. He treated it like it was his job. Take care of your brother. His father, John, always said that before he left for work.

John was a traveling pest control technician, which meant Sam and Dean never stayed in one school for more than a few weeks. Sam had managed to make it this far purely on his intellect. The kid was brilliant.

Dean had, miraculously, finished up high school.  He was now working with their dad. They called it the family business.

Sam had long brown hair, and hazel eyes. As for Dean, he had light brown hair and eyes so green they seemed like fiction.  He was also about 4 inches shorter than his younger brother.

“Come on Sammy, I’m just checking up on you.” Dean said, touching Sam’s shoulder.

Sam shrugged him off and walked straight towards his first day at his new school. He stopped at the stairs, took a deep breath, looking back at Dean. His brother was still there, gesturing for him to go inside. Sam let out a long breath and walked in.

“Everyone, we have an addition to our class this year. This is your new classmate, Sam Winchester. It’s a good thing you came in early in the year,” she said with a smile. “Is there anything you want to share with your classmates?”

“Not really. I’ll be leaving in two weeks, so it doesn’t matter,” he said with a shrug.

“Alright, find a seat anywhere. I’m Mrs. Mills.” She smiled at him again and nudged him forward. Mrs. Jody Mills was a sweet 30ish brunette with short hair, big brown eyes and a lovely mother’s smile.

He looked around trying to pick a good seat. That kid just wiped his nose with his sleeve, that girl was basically drooling over him, and that guy just looked plain weird.

He finally found a seat by the window. Behind him was a girl with fiery red hair, and front of him was a kid with glasses. He seemed alright. It seemed as good a place as any to spend the next 2 weeks of his life.

As he walked to his new seat, he tripped and nearly fell. The girl with the red hair extended a hand to keep him up. He smiled and thanked her.

He stopped and looked back to find the foot that tripped him. It was still extended as if to say “Yes, I tripped you.”

Sam looked up to find a blond guy looking smugly at him, while everyone else in class laughed. He was clearly the class clown.

“Watch it Sasquatch!” the guy growled.

“Gabriel Novak! One more of your tricks and I will send you to the principal’s office!”

“Sorry, Mrs. Mills,” he said. He said it with an innocent look that turned into a sneaky smirk as soon as she turned her back.

He looked over at Sam and whispered, “Welcome to hell.” Sam felt the urge to punch that smug face, but decided against it.

“Two weeks! It’s not worth it,” he chanted in his head. He pulled the chair out and took his seat.

“Barry,” the kid in front of him said, extending his hand to shake it.

“Sam,” he said, shaking it. He then turned to the redhead. “Thanks again,” he whispered as she smiled at him.

“I’m Charlie, don’t worry about Gabe. He’s an ass.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam gets unwanted news, and Gabriel is up to no good, as usual.

The days flew by, and two weeks had finally passed. Sam had kept to himself like usual. He didn’t socialize with anyone; he never saw the point.

Unfortunately, that did not stop Gabriel from playing every prank he could think of on him: Chalk on his seat, gum on the chair back, a punctured corrector pen. He even changed the combination on his locker.

The guy even came in early one day and sawed off half of the legs on Sam’s chair and table so he would actually look like a giant. If you could think it, Gabe did it. Sam was so done with his tricks. He could not wait to leave behind this school and its trickster.

But the days rolled by. And pretty soon, they had been there for a month. Sam found out they were settling here, at least for the rest of the year. That did not play well into his plan of leaving Gabriel and his tricks behind and moving on.

“But that’s not fair! We always leave! We always leave when I don’t want to, and now that I’m dying to leave, you wanna stay?! It’s not FAIR!” he shouted as he slammed the door of the motel room they had been staying at temporarily.

He took a walk around the block, trying to clear his head. Now he had to figure out a way to avoid Gabriel, because it didn’t look like the latter was planning on stopping his tricks anytime soon. As he turned a corner he bumped into Charlie, who offered to walk around with him.

“I think you need to talk to him,” she said. “You never know. He might surprise you.” She let her words sink in and offered him a lollipop. They walked around for a bit before Sam returned to the motel room, still trying to figure out how to deal with Gabriel.

 

The next few days went by quietly. Gabriel stayed out of Sam’s hair, in a very suspicious way. For Sam, it felt like… no, he was sure - it was the quiet before the storm. He knew Gabriel was cooking up something big, but he had no idea what.

Charlie started hanging out with him at lunch and talking to him, even though he rarely conversed, and soon enough, Barry started joining them as well. Before he knew it, Sam had friends. He never had real friends; it was always acquaintances, all over the country.

“What’s up Sasquatch?” Gabriel would shout, passing him in the hallway. But nothing more. It was always a different name; gigantor, freak, monster, you name it. But still, no more tricks. Sam was worried.

Until one day, almost a month later, Sam walked in to find a giant picture of his face pasted onto the body of a cartoonish giant, hanging in the corridor, with the words “Fee-fi-fo-fum” written in a bubble around his head.

Gabriel was standing there, a smug look on his face and an evil smirk curling on his lips.

“I’m gonna kill you!” Sam shouted as he made his way through the crowd. Everyone was laughing, some calling him giant as he passed them by. Others went with freak and others just were pointing and whispering. Sam walked fast, every inch of his body focused on a single purpose: to kill Gabriel Novak.

Gabriel didn’t budge. Even when Sam grabbed his shirt and lifted him against the locker, the smirk was still plastered across his face. Even as Sam made a fist and prepared to launch it towards his chin, he still sneered and kept eye contact, daring him.

But just as Sam was about to punch his nose down his throat, an alarm went off in his head. “Don’t be Dad!” The last thing Sam ever wanted was to become like his father. A violent man who solved his problems by punching holes into them.

He pushed Gabriel away, releasing him from his grip. He walked away, expecting the other to start calling him names, but none came. Gabriel just stood there, snickering with his friends. The guy was even weirder than Sam had thought.

The day went by slowly, and Sam was called every name in the book - plus some original ones as well. By the day’s end he was fed up; he couldn’t wait to go home. To his surprise, Dean was waiting for him outside in their dad’s car.

Sam walked fast, trying to avoid everyone, and when he heard Dean’s whistle, he halted. Kids were passing him by, still screaming freak and gigantor at him, others were pointing and laughing.

Dean noticed the commotion and how Sam seemed to hunch in on himself to avoid the slurs. The older Winchester pushed past his brother and into the school. He looked at the poster and stalked back to Sam. The teen hadn’t moved an inch, too busy praying to every higher power there was that they had figured out a way to get that damned monstrosity down. When he saw his brother’s angry face, he got into the car and waited. The yelling didn’t come until they reached the motel.

“Who did that? Sam, who the hell did that?” Dean snarled, slamming the motel door behind him. He kept pacing around the small motel room, thumping his fist into the palm of his other hand and cursing under his breath.

“I’m gonna rip his lungs out!” he exclaimed just as their father walked in.

John Winchester was a rugged man. There was a light beard growing on his face, and his sharp eyes scanned the room. His shaggy salt and pepper hair fell around his ears. “What’s going on?” he asked as he tossed his coat onto a chair.

“Some punk is screwing around with Sam and he won’t tell me who it is,” Dean replied, body trembling with anger.

“Well, of course I’m not gonna tell you! You’re just gonna make it worse,” Sam reasoned.

Dean took a deep breath when he realized that Sam was right. He’d only make that kid bully him even more. But the jerk needed to be punished. And if Sam wouldn’t do it, he would. He gazed outside for a minute while Sam and his father talked, and then turned around with a grin. “Fine. If you don’t tell me who it is, I’m gonna make an appearance at your school.”

“Dad, c’mon! Talk to him!” Sam cried out as he turned to face their father with his tried-and-true puppy dog eyes.

“Dean! No, you won’t,” John gave his oldest son his most serious look. “You’re gonna go to the boy’s house and have a talk with his parents.”

“But, Dad…” they both said simultaneously.

“No buts!” John interrupted. “Just do it! I want this over tonight!” Sam shot Dean a mean look, angrier than he’d ever been with his brother. This trumped even the time during a prank war, years ago, when Dean had gone a little too far by putting hair dye in his shampoo just before a school dance.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean meets Cas

After parking the Impala around the corner, Dean stopped at the front gate of a decent-sized home. He could see the name Novak written clearly on their mailbox in a fancy-looking font. He huffed and rolled his shoulders as he walked over.

The older brother stood on the front steps for a moment, looking around before he rang the doorbell. Dean promised his dad no fighting, so no matter how obnoxious that kid’s father was, he was going to control his temper.

He expected a large man to open the door. After what Sam had said about him, he imagined this Gabriel kid was probably a fat kid. Six feet tall and a complete monster, and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

As the door opened, he found a younger guy, around twenty, standing there instead. His hair was raven black, and messy, and his eyes were a strange shade of blue.  
“Yes? Can I help you?” the guy asked.

For a second, Dean was stumped. He forgot what he wanted to say. To be honest, the speech he had prepared was lost in those deep, ocean blue eyes. He found himself smiling slightly and he stared for a moment until the gravelly voice shook him out of it.

“Excuse me?” the guy prompted, tilting his head and looking questioningly at Dean.

The man standing on his porch had the sharpest features that he had ever seen and a wickedly attractive smile. His green eyes sparkled in the light and when he came back to attention, it almost felt like they sparkled gold.

“Ummm…yea, I kind of need to talk to Mr. Novak,” Dean said, his voice catching slightly.

“My dad isn’t here; how can I help?” he asked.

“Oh. Well, when will he come back? It’s about Gabriel.” Dean replied.

Those gorgeous blue eyes rolled. “He’s not coming back, ever. What did Gabriel do now?” he asked with an exhausted tone, clearly used to his brother causing trouble.

“Oh,” was all Dean could think of to say. Suddenly, he remembered that he needed to deal with this tonight. He didn’t want to make his dad angry. “Well… he’s bullying my little brother at school, and I don’t like it. So if you could talk to him, I’d appreciate it.” His voice was gentle but firm.

Gabriel’s brother moved away from the door and gestured Dean inside. They headed to the living room and sat down to have a proper chat. Castiel – he said his name was Castiel - had a long talk with Dean, telling him about their delicate situation, hoping he would understand and make Sam understand as well.

Dean was listening with more attention than he’d ever paid anything. In probably the history of everything. His eyes roamed over Castiel’s body, going from his eyes, to his lips, and occasionally down to his hands. He was almost mesmerized.

The men soon finished their talk and headed to the door. They had almost reached it when Dean turned around. “Umm, Castiel?” he said hesitantly.

“Cas. Call me Cas, please,” he said, smiling at him. Dean faltered for a minute as Cas’ gorgeous smile took him by surprise.

“Ok...Cas.” He cleared his throat and continued, “I know this is probably too forward, and correct me if I got the wrong idea, but would you like to go out sometime?”

Castiel paused, holding his breath for a moment. Did that just happen? This gorgeous, perfect stranger just asked him out? But even before that, what really baffled him though was how Dean knew he was gay. He had only figured it out a few months ago, and almost no one knew the truth.

His heart sped up as he began to slightly freak out. He knew he had to say something, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for any of it - it was much too sudden.

“I’m not gay!” Cas blurted out before he could stop himself. Dean frowned, but nodded and then politely apologized for the misunderstanding. He walked away, leaving Castiel pinned in place. All he could do was watch him go and curse himself for the nonsense that left his mouth. It took Dean rounding the corner to unstick his frozen feet.

Cas chased after him without a second thought. Everything his body did next was involuntary. He grabbed his shoulder and turned Dean around, catching the other man off balance.

“I would love to go out with you!” Castiel shouted into Dean’s startled face. He never knew it was possible to feel so out of control.

Dean paused for a moment and then smiled, clearly relieved. “That sounds great, Cas.”

So they set a date for 7pm the next day, planning for Dean to pick Cas up and take him out somewhere nice. As he watched the dark haired man turn back toward his home, Dean smirked. He had been stumped for a moment there, thinking maybe his gaydar was on the fritz. “Yep. I still got it,” he said quietly to himself with no small amount of pride. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam tries to be Gabriel's friend.

“Look man, his mom is dead and their dad just disappeared! Give the kid a break! Try to be his friend,” Dean said. His words made Sam absolutely furious.

“What the hell Dean! I don’t want to be his friend. He’s a jerk!” Sam shouted. He couldn’t believe his ears. How could Sam be a friend to the guy that made it his life’s mission to ruin him?

Although, as Sam thought about it, he began to understand Gabriel a little better. He realized what a hard time Gabriel must be going through. He knows because he went through it himself. At least Sam and Dean had their dad. No, the man wasn’t perfect, and he could get pretty selfish at times. But without him, things would have been a lot worse. He guessed that it couldn’t hurt to try and be friendly.

The next day, Sam walked to school slowly, preparing what he wanted to say to Gabriel. He went to class late and remembered to check his chair for any gum, chalk or any other pranks Gabriel might have prepared for him today. There weren’t any, so he sat down with an almost audible sigh of relief.

During lunch, Sam followed Gabriel into the bathroom. He figured it would be the best place for a private conversation.

“Hey, Gabe? Can we talk?” Sam asked, keeping his distance as Gabriel was washing his hands.

“Pretty creepy, Winchester! Stalker much?” Gabriel said to Sam, not bothering to turn around.

For as long as he’d been able to talk, Gabriel had had the ability to sarcastically reply to anything without a moment’s thought. He’d open his mouth and something snarky would fly out. He’d always thought of it as a blessing.

“C’mon man! I’m trying to have a conversation with you,” Sam said.

“What do you want Sasquatch?” was his only reply.

Sam rolled his eyes at that, but decided to keep talking.

“Look, I heard about everything that’s been happening at your house. And I just wanted to say that I understand, and I’m here if you want to talk. My mom died when I was a baby, and my dad has been dragging us around the country with him ever since. So...I know what it’s like to go through bad times.”

As Sam was speaking, a dark look formed on Gabriel’s face. It wasn’t one that he had ever seen on the other boy before. Gabriel looked him up and down, huffed, and walked past him, elbowing him out of his way.

“Stay away from me, freak,” he hissed at Sam.

“What the fuck, man?! I was trying to be your friend! Screw you!” Sam yelled at him. The taller teen no longer felt like being peaceful. Any kind thoughts he’d had before were gone as he shoved Gabriel.

Gabe turned quickly and ran at Sam. He pushed the taller boy, not stopping until they were pressed against the wall. He was much shorter than Sam, but he was strong. Gabriel pinned him to the wall with his arm against his throat, their faces inches apart.

“I said, stay the fuck away from me, Winchester!” Gabe said lowly. The deep pitch of his voice was scarier than if he’d shouted.

The look in his eyes gave Sam pause. He’d never noticed what a beautiful shade of amber Gabe’s eyes were. His gaze drifted down and he found himself staring at the blonde's lips.

He knew that Gabriel was yelling at him, but he honestly couldn’t tell what he was saying.  He was too dazed from the realization that he found the other boy attractive. Just as he snapped out of it, Gabriel closed the space between them to press their lips together.

It started out completely innocent, Sam tasting Gabriel’s lips, and Gabe pressing back against Sam’s. But then they were lost in it, their surroundings fading away. Gabe’s hand moved from crushing Sam’s throat to caressing his jawline and neck.

Sam’s fingers found their way to Gabe’s curls. They were soft and light. Sam dimly noticed that they felt much too light for the other man to wear gel or any other substance. The finger styled fringe was completely natural.

Then, Sam felt Gabe’s tongue pushing against his lips, demanding entrance. Without hesitation, Sam opened to him. Their tongues tangled, Gabriel exploring every inch of Sam’s mouth. Sam was shocked. This kiss was the most violent, and passionate thing that he had ever shared with anyone. It felt like it went on forever. And he didn't want it to end.

How did Gabriel screaming at him turn into this amazing kiss? Sam had no idea, and no intention of stopping it. Suddenly, almost as if he had read Sam’s mind and realized what was going on, Gabriel pushed himself away from Sam.

“What the hell, Winchester? Stay away from me!” the shorter teen yelled as he stormed out of the bathroom. Sam just stood there, confused and more than a little aroused. He walked out of the bathroom shortly after and headed straight to the cafeteria, where Charlie and Barry were waiting for him.

“How did it go with Gabriel?” Charlie asked.

“Yea man, you were gone a long time,” Barry added.

Sam was silent. He had no idea what to tell his friends. Was it really a good idea to tell them what happened? He just shrugged.

“Nothing,” he muttered, looking around. A loud noise from the other side of the room caught Sam’s attention. There he was, laughing at his latest prank. He had rigged a juice box to explode, right in the face of the cutest girl in their class.

“What the hell is wrong with that guy?!” Sam said, startled when he realized he’d spoken aloud.

“Where to start?” Charlie asked, passing a hand through Sam’s hair, rearranging the mess.

“Gabriel is basically a 5 year old,” she said. Barry got up and went to put away his lunch tray. As soon as he was out of earshot, Charlie continued with a smirk, “If he likes you, he pushes you down, and then calls you a poopy-head.” She sent a sneaky look Sam’s way.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Sam found himself breaking out into a nervous sweat.

“What happened in the bathroom, Sammy?” Charlie asked in a lyrical tone.

“Nothing happened! We umm… we just talked,”  Sam said slowly. He was nervous. He’d been the freak for so long he’d gotten used to it by now, but being a faggot freak was not something he could handle on his last year of high school. But then he froze. “Hey! I never said we talked in the bathroom!” Sam protested.

Charlie just smiled at him, and nodded her head in Barry’s direction. He was coming back to the table. Sam paled as he looked at her, eyes pleading.

“We’ll finish this on the way home, Snoopy,” she said with a sneaky smile before going back to her lunch.

For the rest of the day, Sam could barely keep still. His eyes darted back and forth between Gabe and Charlie. Things were starting to get complicated.

The final bell could not have come sooner, in Sam’s opinion. He had been wound tighter than a rubber band since lunch. He waited for Charlie outside her last class. It was advanced trigonometry, a class she shared with Gabriel.

Sam didn’t actually know that little fact until he looked up at the sound of the door opening. The first person to walk out was the guy that had been on his mind all day.

If he closed his eyes he could still feel lips against his, and the taste of his tongue lingered even after the school’s mystery meat. Gabriel walked by him, shoving him with his shoulder.

“Watch it, Sasquatch!” he snapped as he walked away. Sam’s jaw clenched and he ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach.

Charlie and Sam walked out of school together. Barry tried to join them but stopped after he caught Charlie’s look.

“So, Sam you wanna tell me what happened?” she asked with a smile.

“First, how did you know we talked in the bathroom? Did you follow us?” he demanded, a panicked look on his face.

“You know, for a genius you’re kinda stupid, Sam Winchester.” She smacked him on the back of his head. “I saw you following him inside, numbnuts! Now come on, tell me!”

“Why are you so sure that something happened?” Sam asked, running a hand over his forehead. Why was he sweating? It was November, for Christ’s sake.

“Because I saw his face when he came into the cafeteria, and then I saw the way you were looking at him all day long. Now talk!”

Sam’s face turned red, and he looked away from her. “Well it sounds like you already have an idea of what happened, so why are you torturing me about it?” Sam groused, scowling.

“’Cause you need to talk about it,” Charlie said. “Look, I know what it’s like to be confused and unsure. I’ve been there - believe me. All this epicness you see is new. I was a mess just a couple of years ago. So let’s just talk about it.”

Sam’s eyes widened. “You mean you’re…” he paused. He wasn’t exactly sure what the correct word was. He’d never been around anyone who was…like that. He’d suspected that maybe his brother played for both teams, but they’d never really talked about it.

“Gay, Sam. A lesbian. Not heterosexual. It’s all right if you say it, it won’t bite you.”

Sam’s face turned crimson. He wasn’t sure what to say to her.

“Look, its fine... If you were gay, I mean. You don’t need to feel bad about it; it’s not wrong. It’s just who you are, you know? I know that it’s all very confusing now and probably uncomfortable, but I just want you to know that I’m here for you. I went through it all before, so I can relate,” Charlie said softly.

Sam couldn’t find words to say. The redhead waited patiently; she could almost see the gears in his brain still processing her words.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure what he was. He’d never thought of Gabriel that way before today. “But... I’m not… I mean, I don’t think I am. I like girls… like a lot!” He paused for a minute, and his eyes glazed over as he remembered. “But when Gabriel kissed me…”

Charlie squeaked at the new information. She’d had her suspicions, but having them verified… Sam gave her a look - one that would later become known as his “bitch-face” - and stopped talking. “I’m sorry, go on,” she said apologetically, but Sam wouldn’t talk. Just saying the few words out loud that had come out seemed to have exhausted him.

Charlie didn’t push; she understood. She’d been there, and she knew how hard it was.

They kept walking in silence until they reached Charlie’s house. They separated with a smile. “You can talk to me anytime” she said as she hugged him tightly before turning to walk to her front door. Sam stood there for a moment,  making sure that she went inside and closed the door, before he started walking back to the motel.

His brain was working at hyper-speed; every possibility was passing through his head. The feeling, it wasn’t really what you might call new, but it was very unfamiliar.

 

He got to the motel and made his way through dinner with his father and brother, who were discussing something about a house. Sam wasn’t really focusing on anything that was going on. He had one thought on his mind: Gabriel’s lips.

He tried to sleep but every time he closed his eyes, he saw Gabriel’s face. Those amber pupils haunted his thoughts. He felt the ghost Gabe’s lips against his. His tongue kept brushing against his teeth like it was retracing steps, almost like when you lose a tooth and keep checking the place it used to be. Sam twisted and turned in his bed with the vain hope that sleep would find him, but no luck. Eventually, he decided to take a walk.

He walked out the door, closing it quietly behind him, and started walking aimlessly, letting his feet choose a path while his mind wandered. When he looked up, he was in front of Charlie’s house. The teen walked up to the front door, but hesitated ringing the doorbell. It was still relatively early, but he crossed his fingers nevertheless, hoping that his friend would get the door and not her father.

Charlie smiled widely when she saw Sam at her doorstep. “Come in!” she said, inviting him in, but Sam wanted to talk and the topic on his mind wasn’t something he wanted Charlie’s parents to overhear.

A few feet from Charlie’s house there was a bus stop bench, which Sam decided would be an adequate place for their conversation. It took him a while to muster up the courage to start talking, and Charlie was more than patient.

“I think I like Gabriel!” he blurted out, spitting the words like they were poison.

Charlie smiled and grabbed his hand “And that’s completely okay. You know that, right?”

Sam started to nod, but stopped. “No! It’s not, because I… I don’t understand. I mean, what the hell is going on…? Until yesterday, I was into girls! And now I’m dreaming of a guy’s lips, and I just… I don’t understand, you know? Am I gay? Am I bi? What the hell kind of magic is this?”

Charlie started to laugh but unconvincingly changed it to a cough when she saw his unamoosed face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh.” She took a deep breath and continued. “But why are you so obsessed with labeling yourself? Why can’t you deal with your feelings for Gabe no matter what you are? I mean if you were gay, bi, or whatever. What does it matter? Your feelings are there no matter what you label yourself. Stop thinking about it!”

Sam looked at her for a long time. She could see the thoughts churning in his head. He was processing what she said.

“Ok, fine. You’re right. But I mean, I don’t think he likes me. He pushed me away and told me to stay away from him-”

Charlie interrupted him. “He kissed you, you idiot. Gay, straight, bi or lesbian, this always means one thing: HE LIKES YOU!” The redhead shouted the last three words in his face. Sam instantly clamped a hand over her mouth, and looked around to make sure no one was around.

She grabbed his hand, but Sam wouldn’t move it. Instead, she raised her hands in the air as a gesture of surrender. Sam moved away and allowed her to speak by nodding his head. She smiled at him indulgently, like Sam was a puppy too cute to scold.

“I just meant that, since he kissed you, he likes you. Maybe he’s just going through what you’re going through? I mean maybe he was just as surprised as you were!”

Sam found her words somewhat satisfying. “I’ll have to think about that. Thanks Charlie,” he said with a smile. He walked her home and went back to the motel, his head a little lighter, and his heart a lot heavier. 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Cas go on their first date

Dean had always known his sexual preferences. It didn’t surprise him the day he kissed his classmate, Benny. Knowing was one thing, but coming out to your homophobic, sexist, narrow-minded father was another. Which was why, when John Winchester asked his eldest where he was spending his night, Dean lied. He lied through his teeth.

“I’m just gonna get a beer, no big deal,” Dean said. John shot his son a disapproving look.

“What! I’m legal now!” Dean argued. His father merely shrugged as he went back to cleaning his work props. Dean took a last look in the mirror before climbing into his dad’s car to drive to Cas’ house.

He was nervous. He hadn’t been out on a date in a long time; even longer when it came to a date with another guy. He’d always thought that girls were easier to date. You could easily impress a girl with a fancy dinner and a story about kicking some guy’s ass. With a guy you actually had to be interesting and have a conversation.

He stood at the front door, adjusting his T-shirt. He ran a hand through his hair and rang the bell. A few moments went by and no one answered. He frowned and rang again. Still no answer. He backed away and tried to peek through the window.

 

A voice he recognized as Cas’ shouted from inside. “Gabriel, you could answer the door every once in a while!” The door was opened forcefully, swinging open to reveal Castiel. His eyes widened as he saw Dean. The taller man looked amazing. He wore a light green t-shirt, which reflected the green in his eyes. It fit just right and showed off his gorgeous arms. His jeans were tight in all the right places. He looked like he just came out of a magazine. Castiel came back to himself when Dean spoke.

“Hi,” he said, a wolfish smile lighting up his face and sending Cas into a spiraling haze of daydreams. A few seconds later he realized that, while he had replied to Dean’s greeting in his head, he hadn’t said anything in reality. And so Dean stared at him quizzically.

“Hello, I’m sorry. Do you want to come in?” Cas asked with a smile on his face.

“Not really,” Dean said with a gesture toward Gabriel, who was standing behind Castiel. Cas turned around and saw his little brother standing there.

“Go inside, Gabriel!” he exclaimed as he turned back to face Dean. “He’s just curious,” Cas said, smiling nervously. He was hoping that didn’t chase him away.

“It’s ok,” Dean said. “We need to get going anyways.” He looked at the kid inside and half-waved at him.

“Behave!” was the only word Castiel shot at his younger brother as he followed Dean and closed the door behind him. They walked to the car, Dean opening the passenger door for Castiel. He felt stupid about doing it the instant it had happened, but it seemed to work because Castiel smiled warmly at him. Dean knew then that he was in trouble.

Castiel shot little glances at Dean throughout the entire drive. He really felt as though he was under some sort of spell or magic of some kind. They soon pulled up in front of a diner; a sign boasting the letters The Roadhouse glowed in red neon in one of the windows.

They walked in and sat at a booth. A cute blond girl who couldn't have been much older than 17 approached them. She was wearing tight jeans and a plaid shirt that seemed to scream lumberjack. Her name tag read Jo and she seemed to know Dean, since they gave each other a familiar look.

"Hi there!" she greeted with a big smile, "I'll be with you in a jiffy!" She gave Castiel a once over, and then shot Dean a look of approval. She left them menus and walked away.

Cas couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed and a tiny bit objectified. He wondered if this was how girls felt, walking down the street and getting cat-called at. But then Dean turned and looked at him with that smile on his face and Castiel felt his annoyance melt away at the sight of it.

"Jo's mother owns this place," he said simply. His tone changed with his next words, turning morose. "Her dad was a good friend of my dad’s."

"Was?" Castiel questioned.

"He died a long time ago,” Dean said. “She was still a kid." A look of guilt darkened his features before he shrugged it off. "No morbid topics on first dates. That’s my rule," he joked. Castiel smiled back at him and dropped the subject.

The rest of the date went by perfectly. They had french fries and milkshakes.  Dean was completely charming and confident, almost to the point of smugness but Castiel didn't mind it; he thought it was cute.

Later, Dean had the craziest idea - something Cas would never have even thought of doing. He blindfolded Cas and started driving. At each turn or crossroad, he would make Castiel choose their next direction. It was hilarious; every time they hit a dead end he would turn the car back around and go the opposite direction.

Cas hadn't laughed so hard since before his dad had left three years ago and he found himself the legal guardian and the sole financial provider for a teenage boy. (The most annoying teenage boy ever, might I add.)  

An hour later, the car stopped and Dean took off Cas' blindfold while brushing his thumbs against the dark-haired guy’s cheek bones. Cas was looking at Dean with a smile so soft, you'd think his lips were made of silk. Dean smiled back, approaching him slowly, and planted a peck on his smiling lips. Castiel grabbed the collar of his t-shirt and tugged him in for another kiss. It was short, but it felt like centuries went by.

When he pulled back, Cas' eyes were still closed and he let out a sigh that sent shivers all down Dean’s spine. Moments later, Cas met Dean’s heated gaze. They smiled at each other, not breaking eye contact.

“Where are we?” Cas whispered.

Dean gently turned his chin with a nudge of his fingers. They had made it to a small lake. They got out of the car and took a look around. The moon was reflected in the water, and it was completely still, though there was a cool breeze tickling the back of Castiel’s neck in a manner that made the hair there fluff up.

He looked over at Dean and smiled, his eyes full of affection and admiration. At that very moment, Dean Winchester was the most important person Castiel had ever or would ever know.

Dean was just grateful to be on a date with the most gorgeous guy he had ever laid eyes on. He pulled out a blanket from the trunk of the car so that they could lay on it. They lay there together, at peace with the stars and their thoughts.

At first, there was some distance between the two, but it kept shrinking until you could not fit even a hair between them. They spent almost three hours in each other’s arms, hardly even talking, just Cas watching the stars and Dean watching him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a whole lot more complicated and Sam loses his mind.

The next few days were full of revelations for Sam. He started noticing things that he hadn’t been able to see before. All of a sudden, he had a new perspective of Gabriel. He was no longer the smug asshole that was ruining his life; he became the adorable asshole who was ruining his life, just in a different manner.

Suddenly, the sneaky smile became cute, and his eyes were mesmerizing. The hazel color was warm and inviting, like sun shining through a glass of whiskey. His lips were luscious and plump and his hands were adorable when they were hiding in the sleeves of his shirt.  

Sam was seeing Gabriel in a new light. Everything that he did brought with it a fresh wave of affection. He would stare at him as long as he could without raising suspicion. He began to recognize the shorter teen’s laugh anywhere.The first thing Sam would look for walking into the cafeteria was Gabriel. The last thing he would see before going home would be his crush walking away from school. And the last image, printed on the insides of his eyelids, would be of Gabriel’s face pressed so close to his, going in for a kiss.

Unfortunately, Sam had started to believe that maybe Charlie was wrong about Gabriel’s feelings for him; the tricky teen hadn’t pulled any pranks on him in forever. In fact, he had stopped harassing him altogether, which was beginning to worry Sam. He remembered Charlie’s words: Gabriel is basically a 5 year old; if he likes you, he pushes you down and then calls you a poopy-head.

Had Gabriel stopped liking him? Did he ever even like him to begin with? Should he have told him about his feelings? The questions bothered Sam more than he would have liked to admit. All he could think of was Gabriel, and how to deal with these new feelings he was having.

Soon enough, the rush that had invaded him, caused by his new crush, started to fade. Instead, it was replaced with a feeling that Sam knew too well. It was a feeling of envy. A confusing mess of rejection, emptiness, and jealousy. How could he feel any differently when Gabriel had started dating Becky? The situation was made even more annoying by the fact that the quirky blond had been drooling over Sam just a few weeks ago.

At the beginning, he thought he was jealous of Gabriel for having Becky. He couldn’t help it; it was “default sexuality mode” kicking in. It took a smack on the head from Charlie, and all sorts of (affectionate) name calling to get it through his brain that he only cared about one person.

“But it could be that I’m just jealous that he took my place in Becky’s life…” Another smack interrupted his mumbling. Even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t true.

“We’re not talking about this anymore. You like him, you want him, you lust over him. Now either start dealing with it or, so help me, I’m gonna hang posters all over school about it!”

Sam didn’t like Charlie’s threat, and he gave her bitch face #3; that’s how Charlie numbered his angry faces. She apologized sincerely as she realized she crossed a line. Teasing Sam with public humiliation was not the way to go.

“I just want you to be happy, you big dork!” she said as an attempt to atone for what she had just said. She reached out and touched Sam’s hand. Sam nodded and smiled, but was distracted by the sight of Gabriel stroking Becky’s cheek across the room. He frowned as he watched them. His eyes darkened, changing into a darker shade of green that reflected his mood perfectly.

The days went by and Sam’s little green monster began to hang on him day and night. At school, he would have to watch Gabriel and Becky acting cute together, kissing, holding hands and snickering in secret. It made him sick - not just emotionally, but physically sick. He was sent home more than once for mysterious tummy aches and nausea. He’d sit in his room, face pressed into his pillow as he curled up alone in his misery.

At night, his visions of Gabriel moving in for a kiss had turned to horrifying images of his trickster with that awful girl. How could he even stand her voice? It was so irritating and pitchy, like nails on a chalkboard. And that laugh! Sam would shudder just at the thought of her annoying, giggly laugh.

The floppy-haired teen knew he was jealous, but he couldn’t make it stop. Gabe and Becky kept acting cute, and Sam’s stomach kept turning at the sight of them. Until one day, he could not take it anymore. The kissing, the whispering, the ear biting, the cuddling… It was all just a little too much for him to handle.

Was it the fight his dad had had with Dean last night that just pushed him over the edge? Maybe. Well, okay, no it couldn’t have been, because he wasn’t even listening. What were they even fighting about, anyway? He wasn’t all there yesterday, his mind constantly wandering. It would float away from reality and return to the same place it has been going for the past couple of weeks.

So, today was the day Sam added “crazy” to the long list of names his schoolmates were showering him with. It had started off so normally, too… Breakfast with his family, eating mechanically since nothing had any taste. Trying to ignore the fighting between Dean and his dad. Enjoying the peaceful walk to school with Charlie, and watching Gabriel and Becky make out at free period. It was just an average day. Until Sam just snapped.

He was sitting in class when it happened. Becky approached him and asked him a simple question.

“Can I borrow a pen?” the ditzy girl had asked.

Sam looked at her, really looked at her, wondering if she was serious. Anger overtook him. He surged up from his desk and screamed, “NO, BECKY! I DON’T HAVE A FUCKING PEN! WHY DON’T YOU GO ASK YOUR BOYFRIEND?!” He shoved her out of the way and stormed out of the classroom without another word. Everyone was dead silent, completely shocked. Gabriel, however, had a look of rage on his face which Charlie found quite alarming.

Sam stood in the hallway, wondering where to go next. He looked in both directions, trying to figure out where to go next. What would be the best place to hide out for the rest of the day? He couldn’t figure it out so he just started walking. His feet unconsciously led him to that bathroom where he had shared that haunting kiss with Gabriel. He leaned against the wall - the same wall Gabriel had pinned him against just a month ago. He slid down with a sigh as he rested his head on his bent knees and wrapped his arms around his legs.

Now what had he done? He’d just flipped out at some poor girl who did absolutely nothing. Her only crime was dating the guy he was in love with. Sam felt his breath catch in his throat. Wait! What? In love? How could that even be possible? How did things turn out this way? Before all of this, he was fully convinced that he was straight. Then, in the course of a month, he went and developed a crush on a guy. And now the thought that he was in love was floating around in his head. Things were getting more complicated by the second.

Sam was drowning in his thoughts when he heard the lock to the bathroom door click shut. Footsteps echoed in the bathroom, approaching him. Sam lifted his head. His heart almost stopped when he saw Gabriel staring back at him placidly. He thought Gabriel had never looked so gorgeous and yet completely intimidating at the same time. Sam scrambled up, looking for something to say, but to no avail. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Gabriel was just standing there, staring him down. Sam wasn’t sure if he was going to beat him or what.

Gabe was quiet for a minute; he tried to talk, but then decided to reconsider his words. He wasn’t sure what to say. He was angry at Sam, really angry. Actually, he was furious. And the whole situation confused him. It didn’t really call for such a strong reaction. It wasn’t like he really gave a rat’s ass about Becky. To be honest, he only started dating her as a prank on Sam.

He figured that if he got Sam’s only groupie to switch sides, it’d piss him off. He barely cared about what happened to her. To be quite honest, he was starting to grow tired of her. Her clinginess and that squeaky voice and irritating laugh. If he had to hear her laugh one more time… Sam could’ve shoved her down to the floor and Gabriel would not have moved to lend a helping hand. So what was it? Why was he so angry? His plan had clearly worked; it had driven Sam to the breaking point. So why wasn’t he satisfied? He turned and started to leave, but Sam’s shaky voice froze him in place.

“I’m sorry, Gabe. I’m…really sorry.” Sam said, looking at Gabriel. He felt his eyes begin to blur with tears but he closed his eyes. He didn’t need to add “crybaby” to the list of things being shouted at him.

Gabriel stood there for a long moment, not speaking, barely even breathing. He started towards Sam but faltered, turning away again. He paced angrily, chest growing tighter and tighter, until he felt like he was having a panic attack. He felt like if he didn’t speak, the words would choke him. So he did, forcing out the thoughts that had been driving him insane.

“What the hell is your problem, Sam? What’s wrong with you? Seriously. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the level of craziness you have shown us over the past few months has been delightful. But this is unbelievable! Do you even know how far off the reservation you’ve gone?”

Sam just listened quietly. He flinched at every sharp word from Gabriel’s mouth, but Gabriel didn’t seem to notice or care.

“You’re fucking insane, man! Go check yourself into a mental hospital, because your kind of crazy is just dangerous.” Why was he saying such mean things? Gabriel’s brain was working overtime, trying to figure it out as he mindlessly yelled at Sam. Not one word was what he really thought of the new kid.

Sam was still standing there, or rather leaning there.  He felt like the weight of Gabriel’s words was crushing him, pushing down on him. He tried to talk, but he couldn't. His voice was shaky and he still couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t start crying. So it was better to not say anything. But then Gabe went in for the kill.

“You really should reconsider the choices you make, kiddo, ‘cause you sure make the worst of them.” That was the final blow.

Sam pulled himself together as well as he could, approached Gabriel slowly, and shoved him. “I was obliviously content with my choices and sexuality until I met you.” The words felt like vomit coming out - he had no control over it and it left a nasty after-taste in his mouth. He knew what he said, but he just couldn’t believe he had said it out loud. Sam closed his mouth, adjusted his posture, and avoided all eye contact with the gorgeous guy who was just as shocked and confused as he was.

Gabe did not react. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? Sexuality? Until he met him? What? If his brain was working overtime before, then at this moment it had just given its resignation letter without even a two weeks’ notice. He was drawing blanks. No words were coming to mind, no actions. Nothing.

Sam stood still; he was trying to process what he had just uttered. They both stared at each other for a minute before Gabriel quietly said four very regrettable words, “Stay away from me,” then turned around and walked away. He unlocked the bathroom door and left.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period, but Sam barely heard it. He was frozen in place. After a few moments, his muscles finally unlocked and turned to jell-o. He leaned back against the wall, slumped down, and put his head in his hands.

His life was officially over.

In the cafeteria, Charlie sat at their usual table. Sam was still missing. She had tried calling his cell, but he didn’t pick up the first few times. Later, she kept getting immediately redirected to his voicemail. Lunch was almost over and she still hadn’t made contact with him, so she decided to ask the person whom she suspected had seen him last: Gabriel.

Gabriel was sitting at his table with the rest of his friends and his girlfriend. Everyone was laughing and making jokes about Sam, and how crazy he acted, except for Gabe. He was silent and very much absent minded. When he saw Charlie approach the table, he adjusted his posture in anticipation. He didn’t know what he was expecting Charlie to say or do, or even if she knew about his confrontations with Sam or not. What if she was here to yell at him for his lousy behavior? Yes, lousy; he knew he had misbehaved, he knew how badly he’d been treating Sam, and he was pretty sure someone was going to call him out on it sooner or later.

He took a deep breath and decided that, even if Charlie screamed at him, he would not taunt her. He would listen, nod and ignore it. No jokes. He wouldn’t make her his new target, nor would he try to ruin her life. No tricks, nothing. He was just going to get his well-deserved scolding and go on with his life.

Charlie stopped just a few feet away from the table, and with pleading eyes she beckoned Gabriel, which took him by surprise. He got up and joined her just outside the cafeteria.

“Gabriel, please be honest with me. Do you know where Sam is? He’s gonna miss his English make up test, and he can’t afford to miss that. I know you guys fought, and I understand. I just really need to find him” Charlie’s eyes reflected her sadness as she spoke.

Gabriel was starting to sympathize with her, and to be completely honest, he was also worried about Sam. He hadn’t seen him since he had left him in the bathroom, and that was hours ago.

“I’m not sure… ummm… try the boys bathroom. I… ummm… saw him there a few hours ago.” He was hesitant to say much else; he didn’t want to reveal much in case Charlie had no idea about what was going on. But then again, what was going? He wasn’t sure himself. This whole thing had been so confusing for the past few months.

Charlie did not wait for Gabriel to say anything else. She ran as quickly as she heard the words, boys bathroom. Off course, how could she have not thought of that? That is exactly where he would be.

Sam was still there, in the same position he had been in ever since Gabriel walked away from his almost love-confession.

As soon as he heard footsteps walking into the bathroom, he quickly got up and flung himself into one of the booths and locked the door. He crouched on the toilet seat and tried as best as he could to keep quiet. No matter who it was, he didn’t want to be made. Especially if it was Gabriel.

Charlie walked in, heard a door being slammed and locked and instantly figured out it was Sam. She walked up to the door and knocked on it twice. When she got no answer, she said sharply, “I know you’re in there! It’s Charlie, open up!”

No answer.

She knocked a couple more times and still got nothing out of Sam, so she leaned on the door and slid down it to sit on the floor. Charlie took a deep breath before she decided to make one last plea.

“Look Sam, I know you’re hurt and confused. Really, I understand. It’s hard. It’s literal hell, but you can’t let your grades slide for it. You deserve better,” her voice started to crack, as a tear was rolling down her cheek. She cleared her throat and went on with a more stern tone. “And you know what? Ruining your grades is not gonna help. I understand you need some time alone, so just come do your test. I won’t talk to you, I won’t let anyone even look your way, but just do your make up test, please!” She wiped the tear away, stood up and faced the door and continued to speak. “You’re my best friend and I hate seeing you this way, but I can’t let you do this to yourself. Please, Sam. For me.”

She heard his footsteps as he came down from on top of the toilet seat. He unlocked the door and came out, eyes red and cheeks flushed. She smiled at him and gave him a hug, one that he didn’t return.

The bell announcing the beginning of the last period rang and it was time for Sam to take his exam. She grabbed his hand trying to guide him along, but he shook it off.

She smiled, nodded, and walked in front of him, looking back every other step to make sure he was still behind her.

They got to class and she saw him in before moving to sit outside the classroom and wait.

When he came out an hour later, he did not speak to her. He had no recognizable expression on his face, and when she called out his name he just kept walking away. Charlie walked home alone that day, for the first time since she had forced Sam to become her friend.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Christmas break, things seemed to have settled down.

Christmas break came and went, and Sam spent the entire time moving into the new house, which his father had found for them. It was a small place, but at least Sam had his own bedroom. Though it was a lot of hard work, and a lot of fighting between his father and brother, but he found it to be a nice break from Gabriel and Becky - moreso Gabriel than Becky. Especially since Gabe and his brother had spent Christmas day at their motel room.  
The first few days following Sam’s outburst were very difficult. Everyone was calling him crazy, and Becky was always glaring at him, but Charlie had given him some much needed and appreciated space They would still have lunch and walk home together, but they never spoke of anything that had happened. Gabriel avoided Sam altogether. No eye contact, no run-ins in the hallway. He even switched seats so he could be furthest away from Sam.  
It was basic torture. Everybody treated him like they were five years old again and he had cooties.  
He was isolated and rejected by everybody, but it was the way that Gabe was treating him that hurt him the most. Yes, he was a bully and Sam had been his victim for too long, but somehow that did not change the fact that he expected more of the other boy. For some twisted reason, Sam had believed Gabriel shared his feelings and was just overreacting out of confusion.   
Maybe it was everything Charlie had put in his head. He wished he could blame her for that; for the longest time, he had wanted to and even tried to, but he just couldn’t. Charlie wasn’t psychic, and she could not have guessed that Gabriel was just a twisted fuck who wanted to torture Sam in every way possible.  
With time - and overthinking - he had started to believe that the whole thing was just another trick; the kiss, dating Becky, ignoring his love confession. It was beginning to make sense, in his head. (But maybe that was just Sam’s desperation talking.)  
The break was finally over, but not the fighting. Dean and John were still at each other’s throat, now more than ever. It was all so mysterious and every time Sam would ask what was wrong, he would get the same answer - sometimes in unison.  
“None of your business. Go to your room!”  
Sam could not find a shred of give-a-damn inside himself to bother caring about their fights anymore. What was going on in his life was more important, at least to him.  
It was the first day of school after the break, and he wasn’t ready to go back to it all. He knocked on Charlie’s door and waited for her at the bottom of the steps. He knew she would be mad at him for not being in touch or answering any of her texts over the break. He was ready for all kinds of scolding and any head smacks that she would deliver.   
To his surprise, none of that happened; Charlie saw his face, smiled big, and jumped at him, giving him the tightest hug her strength allowed. He stood motionless for a second before he embraced her in a bear hug and kissed the top of her head. He had missed her; she was the sister he never wanted.   
When she finally released him, he walked away, barely looking her in the eye as he tried to mutter an apology. “Charlie, I’m sorry. I know I was an assho..”   
She whacked him on the back of his head, grabbed his arm and started walking. He smiled. “No apologies necessary, my young padawan.”  
Sam rolled his eyes. “Charlie, I’m two months older than you.”  
The two chatted amiably until they reached the school grounds. Sam stopped at the entrance of the school. His feet would not budge any further. Charlie turned around and saw he was frozen in place, so she walked back to him, grabbed his hand, smiled and nodded at him as if to say It’s ok, I’ve got you. She pulled him inside by the hand, smirking as the much larger boy allowed himself to be dragged along.  
After all the whispering, murmuring, pointing and laughing that had occurred in the hallway, Sam was grateful they finally had made it to their first class. He had searched for Gabriel all around the packed corridor (as much as he could without being obvious about it), but there was no sign of him or of Becky. Sam breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the classroom.  
Mrs. Mills was greeting everybody with a smile. When Sam walked by her, she put her hand on his shoulder and nodded him on. If he were to imagine his mother in anyone, it would be in her.  
Walking by, he looked for Gabriel around the class but did not find him. He took his seat, a little relieved but still disappointed.  
The rest of the day went by as normal as possible. Come lunchtime, he found Charlie waiting for him outside of his English class. She took his arm and guided him to the cafeteria. She was really happy to have him around after such a break in their friendship.  
It was mystery-meat day at the cafeteria and Sam’s stomach turned at the sight of the blob that was flung on his plate. He looked at Charlie and they both burst into laughter. They sat at their table, pushed aside their trays and Charlie took two packs of chips out of her bag and offered Sam one.  
“Barry’s here,” she said while looking in his direction.  
Sam turned around to look for Barry and he felt the breath leave his chest in a painful rush. Just behind his friend, Gabriel was walking in. Surrounded by his friends, he was laughing like he’d just been told the world’s funniest joke.  
Charlie noticed the disaster that was about to happen and in an attempt to avert it, she huffed and pushed her tray away before saying, “Lets go outside! It’s barely snowed today, and the sun is out, and we can.. you know.. Like build melty snowmen, and make melty snow angels… or just talk! We could go talk outside - you know, where there is sun, and snow a-and no Gabriel.” The last word ended on a squeak as Charlie finally ran out of breath. She was known to babble whenever she was nervous.  
Sam started laughing at her rant and he gave her an affectionate look. “It’s okay, Charlie. I’m fine. Really”   
He really was fine. If you consider your heart beating a million times a second, sweating heavily during January, and having your tongue stuck in your throat, fine.  
What Sam couldn’t figure out was, why hadn’t Gabriel been in first period? Where was he? He couldn’t have been with Becky; she was in class. He remembered that, because he’d almost broke his pencil at the annoying sound of her breathing. So where was he? And why was he so happy now?!  
A sudden commotion, coming from Gabriel’s direction, snapped him out of his thoughts.  
Becky was standing there, holding her tray and Gabriel and Co. were making fun of her and calling her names. She screamed something inexplicable at them while crying, dropped her tray at their table and ran off.  
Sam was more than shocked. Why would Gabe be so mean to her? Did they break up? They must have! And if they haven’t before this, then they sure have now. The situation was not too difficult to read, but Sam needed confirmation nonetheless. And an explanation made its way to him sooner than he had expected.  
Final period came around. Math class - not Sam’s favorite topic, so you can understand why he was so easily distracted by all the kids whispering about and passing out a small piece of paper around. Finally the paper made it to Charlie and she made a small squeaky sound before she handed it over to Sam.  
Gabriel dumped Becky at Balthazar’s New Year’s party.  
Sam’s heart skipped a beat, and he felt joy filling it to the very brim. He allowed himself to be happy for only a second before he reminded himself that the news meant nothing for him. It still didn’t mean Gabriel was interested in him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What really happened during Christmas break.

After such a perfect first date, Dean had no idea how to follow up. Should he call, or wait for Castiel to call him first? He had no idea what to do; he had never made it past a first date with a guy.

He always seemed to mess it up just in the beginning, and it always ended badly. Besides, they never stayed in a town for more than two weeks, which usually meant relationships were out of the question.

A part of him believed he was sabotaging himself out of fear. Making it to a second date with a guy meant a third and a fourth and eventually a relationship.

He was more afraid of his father than he was of commitment. Introducing a boy to John as his boyfriend was a sure way to get his ass kicked, his and maybe even his boyfriend’s. It was just simpler, easier and much safer to not get involved emotionally with boys.

Castiel was a completely different matter. He was no one night stand and surely no fuck buddy. From the moment he had laid eyes on the dark-haired boy, he was hooked. Every instinct in him was screaming to be with Cas, and so they went on a second, a third and a tenth date.

Soon enough, Dean found himself stumbling into a relationship with Castiel Novak and it felt amazing. They would go on dates, ending up spending the night in Cas’ bed, or even just stay in, having popcorn and watching some old episodes of Star Trek or The Twilight Zone. (Those were Dean’s two favorite shows.) They spent most of their time together at Cas’ house, since Dean’s motel room was completely out of the question.

They had been together for almost two months when Christmas was suddenly upon them. It was going to be yet another holiday of Cas and Gabriel just watching TV and fighting about one thing or another. This year, Dean had offered them to come spend Christmas Day with his family at their motel room. It was risky and scary, but he couldn’t refuse such an invitation.

After a long fight with Gabriel, Castiel had finally convinced him of going along and they were on their way. He was nervous; this was his first relationship ever and it was all so new to him. They arrived and he was so anxious that he couldn’t manage to knock on the door, so Gabriel did it for him with a look of exasperation.

A few seconds and a little shouting later, Sam answered the door. He looked at Gabriel with wide eyes. He tried to hide the happiness that filled him at seeing the other teen, so he put on an angry face. Sam moved away from the door and invited them in.

Castiel smiled at Sam. “Hello,I assume you are Sam. I have heard so much about you.” He was trying to leave a good impression. Even though Dean had made it clear that it’s best if they pretended they were just friends, Cas still wanted his family to like him.

Gabriel walked in, barely looking at Sam and not saying a word. Sam tried as hard as he could to not make any eye contact with him. His stares became glares as the memories of what happened just a few weeks ago started to rush in.

Dean saw his boyfriend and instantly went in for a hug, which was interrupted by John walking in. Dean pushed Cas away and smiled at him. John was just coming back from The Roadhouse where he had bought their Christmas dinner. He laid everything down on the table and started unwrapping the containers. Castiel and Dean helped, as Gabriel and Sam just avoided each other by being in completely different rooms, and since the motel room was made of one room only, that meant Sam spent most of his time in the bathroom, while Gabriel sat politely on the edge of Dean’s bed.

It was dinner time and everyone was called to the table. Dean sat between Cas and his father, which meant Sam and Gabriel sat next to each other. They started eating and conversing and all was going well. Dean and his ‘friend’ were laughing at a story John was telling, and the youngsters were sitting silently. Gabriel reached out for the plate of mashed potatoes at the same time when Sam was reaching for the plate next to it. It was a very cliché moment,  but that did not stop them from yanking their hands back so fast you’d think they were on fire. Thankfully no one had noticed. No one except for Castiel, but he simply carried on eating.

That meal was the most cliché dinner to have ever happened. Castiel and Dean kept sneaking looks at each other when John wasn’t looking, their hands kept meeting under the table, and they even played footsies like they were a couple of teenagers. As for the real teenagers, they were completely avoiding each other, except that they weren’t. Gabriel kept glancing at Sam and then looking away when any hint of being spotted loomed over. Sam was more subtle though. He only looked at Gabriel when necessary; during a conversation that Castiel involved them in, while handing him some plate, he even kept pretending to look outside, Gabriel’s face was blocking the window, just to peek at Gabe’s golden hair or his amber eyes. The only one that was acting as normal as possible at that table was John, and that’s only because he had no clue what was going on.

Dinner finally ended, and it was time to do the dishes. Castiel volunteered Sam and Gabriel while he went with Dean to get some dessert. The boys stood at the sink, side by side, elbows touching occasionally and hands brushing; sometimes not so accidentally. All of that just added more to Sam’s confusion, and he needed some time away. As soon as the dishes were done, and before his brother and his boyfriend came back with dessert, Sam opened the door and just left. He gave no explanation to Gabriel and his father was sleeping. He walked around for a while. It was freezing, but he didn’t mind.

He was out for almost half an hour when his phone started to ring; Dean. His thumb danced a bit over the answer/ignore buttons before he decided to let it ring. He put it on silent and slid it in his pocket. His mind was clouded; he needed some air to clear everything up. The past few months had not been easy at all, and any normal teenager would have been feeling just as anxious and confused. He walked for almost an hour, sometimes in circles around the same block, sometimes all the way into a dead end, but eventually he found himself where he always did when he’d go off wandering: at Charlie’s doorstep.

He rang the doorbell and then decided not to bother her on Christmas day with his endless issues, so he turned around and walked as fast as he could. He wasn’t fast enough; he was stopped by Charlie’s voice screaming his name. She caught up to him, took his arm and walked beside him.

“Merry Christmas!” she said happily with a wide smile. Sam smiled back, a hint of shame twinkled in his eyes as he felt bad for running away.

“Why were you running? What’s wrong?”

Sam didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to weigh her down with yet another one of his stories about how he’s in love with Gabriel and Gabe won’t give him the time of day. Or rather, sometimes gives him a little too much time. “Nothing, I’m just… I didn’t think it would be appropriate to… um… interrupt your Christmas,” he said finally, a shaky smile quirked up on his lips.

“Are you kidding me?!” she objected. “Come on, come inside, let’s…”

Sam interrupted her before she really got going. “No, I have to go back to my family. We… ummm… we have guests over.” He smiled at her, gave her a kiss while wishing her a happy Christmas and then he just walked away.

Charlie knew something was up, but she wasn’t going to push him into anything. If there was one thing she had learned about Sam, it was that he would talk when he was ready.

When Sam came back to the room, the guests had left. He walked in the door and threw himself on Dean’s empty bed, since his brother wasn’t there. His father was sleeping, and it was surprisingly quite outside. He took the opportunity to let himself sink into a deep sleep. For the first time in a long time, he actually slept peacefully with no bad dreams about the fire, no anxiety ridden thoughts. He just sank into unconsciousness.

It was so peacefully black and blank in his mind until he was shaken out of bed by his older brother, who seemed angry but denied it when asked. A few minutes later and Dean started the inevitable fight.

“Why the hell were you that rude to Cas and Gabe?!” he demanded angrily.

Their father, awake now and prepared to stop things if they got too physical, watched on as the one-sided fight heated up.

Sam shrugged and turned his back to his brother. What was he going to say? He couldn’t tell his brother what was going on, especially not in front of their father, so the best solution was to ignore the fight away.

Dean, of course, wouldn’t have it. He jerked Sam back around by the shoulder and kept on yelling. “I swear you’re like the biggest ass in the world. You couldn’t fake a smile for a few hours? You’re such a drama queen!”

Sam was getting sick of this, and he wanted it to stop, but Dean kept going and going until Sam snapped and barked, “Why are you so mad? Who cares if your boyfriend thinks I’m rude!”

Silence.

Both the boys held their breath in. Sam couldn’t believe what he said, and Dean couldn’t find words to counteract. Another minute of silence passed before Dean stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Sam was shocked and felt like crap, and John was even angrier than Dean.

And that was the Winchester Christmas. It was full of clichés, stolen looks, awkward moments, and it ended with a fight.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel does something unfamiliar, and Sam goes on his first date.

School was back, Gabriel was single, and nothing had changed for Sam. Gabe was still ignoring him, the hole in his heart was still there, and - for the sake of stability - his brother and father were still fighting. He was starting to get used to all of it; it all became a nice routine.

Like all routines, this one was broken. It was a normal Wednesday morning. He met up with Charlie, walked to school, went to class, and was on his way to his art class when suddenly someone pulled him into the janitor’s closet.

It was very dark and he couldn’t see his kidnapper until a light bulb was switched on. He looked down and there was Gabriel, standing with a lollipop in his mouth and a weird look in his eyes.

He smiled at Sam, yanked the lollipop from his mouth and said, “Hey there, Sam-I-am”

Sam had no words. He had no idea what was going on. He was kidnapped by Gabriel, who was actually being nice to him. It must have been opposite day or something.

“What do you want?” Sam asked with his eyes squinted suspiciously at him.

“Nothing, I just wanna talk,” Gabriel said as he laughed nervously, completely avoiding any eye contact.

Sam was taken aback at this. It wasn’t such a great event but, considering the type of relationship he had with Gabe, which was pretty much non-existent, it was a pretty big deal.

They were both silent for a moment until Gabriel slowly slid his hand across Sam’s arm, grasped his hand, and ran his thumb softly over the back of it.

Every bone in Sam’s body was telling him to run, that this was a prank, definitely a trick, and run he did. He shook Gabriel’s hand off, gave him one of his world famous bitch faces and stormed out of the closet, slamming the door behind him and leaving Gabriel there.

A few days later Sam was approached again, this time by Balthazar. The tall blonde teen was British, very popular, and well known for his flaming homosexuality around the school. He was queer, he was here and nothing was going to stop him from being himself.

Sam had thought, back when he was first introduced to him by Charlie, how lucky the other teen was to be this comfortable with themselves and who they were.

He was sitting at the lunch table with Charlie on Friday when Balthazar came up to them and sat down, pushing Charlie away to be in Sam’s view He said with a straight face, no pun intended, “Hello Samuel, I’m taking you out on a date. Tonight preferably, but we could reschedule if you’re too busy feeling sorry about yourself. When and where am I picking you up?”

Sam was shocked and his face conveyed that emotion so perfectly, with his jaw hanging loose and his eyes wide open. He couldn’t speak for a few seconds,. He was being asked out for the first time in his life, by someone so flamboyant as Balthazar no less, and he didn’t know what to say.

His first instinct was to say no, for many reasons including the secrecy of his sexuality and his feelings for Gabe. He would be officially coming out to the entire school if he goes on a date with Balth, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready for that.

Balthazar grabbed his hand to get his attention, looked him in the eye and repeated slowly, as if to try and make him understand something

“When. And. Where?”

Sam couldn’t help but smile. He was funny, cute and clearly interested. So, why not? What was stopping him? His feelings for Gabriel, which obviously weren’t requited? It’s about time he got over him already! If Gabe was really interested, he wouldn’t have tortured him so much.

“Tonight. At 7. The Roadhouse,” he said slowly, replying in kind to Balthazar’s joke.

Balthazar started laughing, pinched Sam’s cheek and said adoringly, “You’re so cute,” before standing and walking away.

Sam sat there with Charlie, still kind of shocked and in disbelief. Charlie felt the same.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Gabriel over the break, also he gets some advice from someone unexpected.

Castiel and Gabriel got back home at around 8 pm from the Winchester Christmas. It was different from what Cas had expected, but he was still happy. Anything was better than the tradition he’d been holding with his little brother for the past three years.

Though he was delighted, he could clearly see that something was upsetting his baby brother, and he thought that he might have an idea what it was.

Gabriel had walked in and rushed straight to his room, slamming the door behind him. The music was set at a high volume and there was an odd, rhythmic thumping sound that Castiel couldn’t place at first. He finally recognized it as the sound of a ball being thrown against the wall.

Castiel knocked at the door and hoped that, for once, he could have a civilized, mature conversation with his brother.

He knocked again, and still no answer. He stood there for a minute, trying to figure out whether to knock again or just walk in. Eventually, he decided to text his brother, and so he did. A minute later, the music volume went down and the door was open.

“What do you want, dick-head?” Gabriel spat angrily.

Castiel was taken aback by this unnecessary aggressiveness, but he understood that Gabriel needed to vent and he was the only human around for now. He had always been such an understanding brother, and Gabriel knew what a blessing this was, especially with the kind of father they had, but that never stopped him from lashing out. It might have even enabled him.

"Can we talk for a minute?” he asked with a gentle tone.

Gabriel moved away from the door and jumped on his bed, grabbing his phone to distract himself from whatever serious talk Cas had in store, but his older brother needed his attention, so he slowly grabbed the phone and placed it on the bed next to him.

Castiel smiled at him, while Gabe just shot him a look of disapproval. He reflected for a minute before he started talking, this was going to be awkward for the both of them.

“Gabriel, you are my brother, and I would hope that you know you can talk to me about anything,” he started nervously. He was looking at his hands, watching his fingers intertwine while he was trying to figure out exactly what to say. He looked for any sign of response from Gabriel, but got none. Still, he continued hesitantly. After all, he didn’t want to push Gabriel away, and this was not easy.

“I think I may have an idea why you are so upset. I hope I’m not stepping on your toes with this-” he stopped abruptly. He wanted to think carefully of what he was going to say so as not to screw this up.

Gabriel looked at him quizzically. “Aaaaand…? Get on with it!”

“I just want you to know that it’s okay, Gabriel. It’s okay if you have feelings for Sam.” He paused and looked up at Gabriel, waiting for some kind of reaction. All he saw was eyebrows shot up and a mouth hanging open slightly, so he continued. “It’s not wrong, or a b-”

Gabriel interrupted him with a huff and a disapproving shake of the head. “Feelings? For Sam? Are you crazy? I can’t stand the guy! Besides, I’m not gay!” he said intensely.  There was a short silence before Gabriel asked Cas to leave.

“Very well, I’m leaving,” he said as he stood up and walked towards the door. “But allow me to say this: if you have any feelings towards him, I believe you should act on them. He obviously likes you,” Cas said with a soft smile on his face.

Gabriel frowned and barked, “GET OUT!” and threw a baseball at him. It bounced off the door, which Castiel had shut behind him as he left.

He stood just outside, leaning against the door, and waited a minute before saying evenly, “I just want you to know that I love you and always will. It’s not bad to be different, and it is not bad to have feelings for another boy. It’s just…” Castiel sighed before continuing, “Well, it’s completely normal, and I’ll still love you all the same.”

He jumped away from the door at the anguished scream that came out from Gabriel followed by a “FUCK OFF!”

Castiel walked away chuckling lightly. He remembered exactly what it felt like to be this confused and angry. He decided to give Gabriel some time to stew. There was nothing else that could clear this up for him. He was simply going to be supportive no matter what.

Gabriel sat in his room, angry at everything. Sam, his brother, his dad, his mom, school, Becky, the freaking world. He thought a little about what Cas had just said and it all started to sink in.

Maybe it is alright if he liked Sam, and maybe it is completely normal. He thought that maybe he shouldn’t fight it this hard, that maybe it’s time to just consider it at least, to experiment as they say. That night he fell asleep just a little less confused than he was for the past few months since Sam Winchester had shown his face around school.

 

It’s been a week since Gabriel had the talk with his brother, and things were clearing up day by day. It was still somewhat fuzzy, but a little clearer all the same.

Gabriel had decided to break up with Becky since he was certain he had no feelings for her. It wasn’t about his sexuality - he was sure he still liked girls, just not Becky.

And break up with her, he did. On New Year’s Eve at Balthazar’s party. He tried to be as respectful as possible but when she started to make a scene, the alcohol he had imbibed (along with his ego) kicked in and he completely made a joke of her, calling her names and putting her down in front of everyone. Needless to say, he felt absolutely terrible about it later on when had sobered up.

As the days rolled by, he began to get a better grasp of everything. Why he’d kissed Sam, why he was being so mean to him, and why he was so upset during Christmas dinner. But most important of them all, he understood that his plan to date Becky in the hopes it would make Sam angry wasn’t because he hated the taller teen, but the exact opposite.  

It wasn’t easy to come to terms with all of this, and it never really is.

Gabriel started to research. He spent almost every waking hour of his Christmas break on the internet, reading about homosexuality and everything related.

On the first day he was still against it, refusing to accept the idea. The second day was easier; he began to actually consider it, even though he rejected every memory of him finding a guy attractive when he was in his early teens.

The rest of the days rolled by, and every day was easier than the one before. By the end of the break, he was really okay with it. It took him a lot of courage to finally come to terms with it, even just to himself.

On New Year’s Eve he was still a bit confused, so he decided to go talk to the only gay guy he knew: Balthazar. But off course he got nervous and scared and he couldn’t tell him anything, so he pretended to simply be replying to his party invitation.

When he got home, Castiel was preparing dinner for them and it hit him - he did know another gay guy. So he had a long overdue conversation with his brother, who reassured him about everything. Cas made it very clear that being gay is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed by, that some people are just different and that’s not bad. The conversation was a complete cliché, and Gabriel could tell it came out from a pamphlet that Castiel had probably memorized to prepare himself for the talk, but still he appreciated it. It was more than reassuring, and it gave him the last push he needed.

By the end of the break, Gabriel had accepted how things were. Maybe not completely, but it was a lot better than completely denying it. He even found the idea of pansexuality to be very interesting, and maybe just right up his alley.

As nervous and scared as he was, he was still feeling a sort of relief, like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. So yes, he wasn’t straight, and he had feelings for Sam. Now what?

Gabriel had never been so nervous about going to school before in his life. Even on his first day, when he cried and threw a complete tantrum, he was still more relaxed than this. His stomach was twisting and turning. Butterflies be damned - there was a herd of buffalos trampling around the insides of his tummy.

He came in early, of course, since he hadn’t slept all night, and he stood completely petrified at the entrance of the school. He couldn’t force himself to walk in. No one was around, so at least he spared himself the humiliation. He stood at that entrance for a full 30 minutes before kids and teachers started flocking to the school. Eventually, he decided to skip the only class he had with Sam, which was luckily first period. He just turned around and walked away. Gabriel was having all sorts of confusing feelings and he didn’t know where to go. He started walking and then he had an idea. (Probably the worst idea he had ever had, but it was something to work with.)

Dean had stopped working with his dad ever since all the fighting had started. Instead, he found a job as a mechanic in a garage that belonged to one of John’s acquaintances, Bobby Singer. He’d been working there a week and things were going good.

No surprises, usually.

Today, as he looked up from underneath a Honda he was working on, he saw Gabriel standing there, and he could tell something was wrong. His first thought was that something had happened to Cas, and Gabriel not saying anything besides waving pushed the idea even more.

“Oh, God. Please not Cas,” he thought desperately, hoping against all hope that his father hadn’t taken out his anger at Dean on the other boy.

His heart began to race, but he tried to pull himself together. His knees were weak and he couldn’t get up. His life was over, that was the only thing he was thinking about.

When Gabriel saw him falling apart, he immediately realized that he’d scared him. Quickly he said, “No, no, nothing’s wrong! It’s not about Cas, it’s about me.”

Dean breathed a sigh of relief; he’d never been more scared in his life. Even when his dad had disappeared once for a few days, he still managed to be stronger and more in control. Apparently Castiel was his weak spot.

Dean took a break from work to speak with Gabriel, which Bobby gladly approved of. The gruff old coot was a very nice guy, very fatherly toward Sam and Dean. Not so friendly with John, though. The eldest Winchester son took the youngest Novak to The Roadhouse and bought him a milkshake; Gabriel of course had asked for extra whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles on top.

They sat down, awkwardly silent, for long minutes until their milkshakes were delivered to their table. Dean took the cherry off the top of his and placed it on a small plate that was off to the side.

“You gonna eat that?” Gabriel asked with a sneaky smile on his face.

“No, knock yourself out,” Dean said while huffing a laugh. Gabriel hastily grabbed the cherry, dipped it in whipped cream, and struggled to get some of the sprinkles on it as well. Dean sat there watching him and smiling, happy that he could bring a smile to the gloomy face he had seen that morning.

“So, Gabriel, you wanna tell me what this is about? What’s wrong?”

Gabriel was playing around with his straw until Dean spoke. His face becoming serious, he stopped what he was doing, chewed and swallowed the cherry which he was sucking on, and suddenly he couldn’t find it in him to make any eye contact with his brother’s boyfriend.

“Well?” prodded Dean, trying to push him into talking. It took Gabriel a minute to muster up what little courage he had and start talking. When he finished, Dean burst into laughter. It was unintentional and he couldn’t have helped it, but as soon as he saw the look of shame on Gabriel’s face, he controlled himself and apologized.

“I’m just glad it’s not something serious.” He smiled with relief before he realized he had made it worse. Across the table, Gabriel looked about ready to burst out and walk away. He knew that because he’d seen that look so many times before on his brother’s face right before he’d invariably storm out.

“Not that your feelings aren’t serious…,” he began, trying to save it, “I just mean, you had me worried there for a minute, and I’m just glad it’s not the end of the world.”

“But it is! It is the end of the world, ‘cause I tortured him for three freaking months, and now he probably hates me, and I’m not sure what to do. I don’t even know if he likes me anymore,” Gabriel said miserably.

Dean interrupted him before he could continue with the negativity. “He probably still does.”

And then it was Gabriel’s turn to interrupt. “No! You don’t understand! When he sort of confessed his love, I told him to stay away from me. I called him crazy and told him to fuck off! I was a royal asshole, I can’t belie…”

Dean cut him off again. “Relax, will you?”

Gabriel took a deep breath, took the straw in between his teeth and set to finishing off his drink. The two sat there a while, talking and laughing about Sam and the pranks they’ve both played on him, though admittedly Gabriel was much more talented than Dean when it came to the art of trickery. When it was time to go back to school, Dean offered to drive Gabe there to offer some moral support. Unfortunately, none of it worked because Gabriel couldn’t find it in him to tell Sam anything. He could barely look at him, so he ignored him all together.

It took him weeks before he could even reconsider talking to him, and a few more days to take the decision and act on it.

He was still somewhat confused about things, and unsure of Sam’s reaction, so he decided to talk to him in private. The bathroom was out of the question - only bad things happen in that bathroom - so the janitor’s closet it was!

On Wednesday, he waited outside of Sam’s Spanish class. As soon as class was over, he ducked inside the closet, leaving the door cracked, and waited till Sam passed by so he could snatch him. As the other boy walked by, Gabriel darted out and quickly grasped  Sam’s hand before yanking him into the cramped closet and slamming the door.

It was dark, and he could hear Sam’s heavy breathing. For a moment, Gabriel didn’t want to let go of his hand, but he did. He turned on the light and looked up at his extra-large love interest with doting eyes. His heart was beating so fast and the words were stuck in his throat. He couldn’t manage to say anything; he felt like there was a lump in his mouth stopping him from talking. Then, all of a sudden, he remembered the lollipop sitting on his tongue. He pulled it slowly from his mouth, smiled, and couldn’t muster up anything besides, “Hey there, Sam-I-am.”

His heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to give out at any minute now.

“What do you want?” Sam asked, looking at him so suspiciously.

The harsh tone which Sam had used carved a tiny hole in his heart, but he had to do this! “Nothing, I... just wanna talk.” Gabriel laughed nervously while avoiding any eye contact. He was so scared and nervous, it was killing him.

He looked for any response in Sam’s eyes, but he got nothing. He couldn’t have considered at the time how thrown off Sam was; his brain couldn’t process all of that for the moment. Sam had said nothing - he had said nothing! It was getting awkward quickly. Oh, God, he needed to do something, so he did the first thing that came to mind; slightly panicky, he grabbed Sam’s hand and started running his thumb over it. It was soft, and his palm was sweaty. Just as he was gathering up his courage to talk, Sam shook his hand off of his and stormed out of the closet, leaving Gabriel nestled safely inside it, alone once again with his thoughts and regrets.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam's date with Balthazar.

Sam had rarely been out on dates; to be honest, he’d only ever asked two girls out. One had said no, and the other only went on one date with him. He did get to kiss her, though, and they ended up making out on her front porch before her dad came out and stared him down.

Being taken out on a date was weird. He didn’t know how to act, what to do, what to say, and more importantly, he had no idea what to wear. Of course Charlie would instantly come to the rescue - it wasn’t like she was gonna miss out on Sam’s first date with a guy.

After a long hour of deliberating in front of his closet, they picked out the perfect outfit; not too sporty but also not too dressed up. A pale green shirt with a brown jacket on top, and plain blue jeans. It was almost time to meet the British teen, and Sam had convinced his dad that he was going out with Charlie for the night.

He stood across from The Roadhouse, nervous and scared. This was a whole new experience for him. He walked in and saw that Balthazar was already sitting at a corner booth, away from every other table in the place. (The blonde had figured they’d need the privacy.) Sam walked over, palms all sweaty and beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and stopped when he reached the table.

“Well? Aren’t you going to sit down, love?”

Sam smiled nervously and took a seat, leaving a vast distance between himself and his date. He looked at Balth for a second and then broke away. The sweat beads were starting to roll off his forehead onto his face, so he wiped it with a napkin which he placed back on the table. Sam looked at Balthazar again for only a second before he looked away again. He crossed his arms, and then uncrossed them; he fiddled with the napkin and then scrunched it and threw it in the ash tray. Then he proceeded to play and intertwine his fingers in knots, until Balthazar approached him and took his hands into his own. He smiled at the nervous teen, trying to catch his eyes, but Sam was barely able to keep any eye contact.

Balthazar barked a laugh, which made Sam very self-conscious and uncomfortable. His date detected that immediately and apologized, “I’m sorry, you’re just too adorable. Relax, will you? I won’t bite you. Unless you ask, of course.”

Sam smiled at him, trying to will himself into maintaining some eye contact. After a few moments, it worked.

It took Sam almost 30 minutes to start feeling comfortable enough to have a normal conversation with Balthazar, who was as charming as humanly possible. He laughed at all of Sam’s dorky jokes, he was very engaged with all of his geeky subjects, he was even curious about some, and took down some names of philosophical theories they were discussing so he could research them later on. After a good while at The Roadhouse, Balthazar suggested they go for a walk. Sam was grateful for such a suggestion; he needed to stretch his legs, since he’d been nervously swinging them for an hour.

They exited the diner and started walking, shivering slightly in the cold. Suddenly, Sam felt Balthazar’s hand slip into his cold fist. The action warmed his heart and he felt a shy smile spread across his face. They walked for a good 30 minutes before they got to a closed park.

“How about we break in and have ourselves a foodless picnic?” Balthazar smiled suggestively.

Sam felt something twist in his heart. Balthazar had the most charming smile you could ever see, with his blond hair and his blue eyes - who could say no to that?!

They managed to successfully jump over the fence; lucky for them that the sun was going down and the street was deserted. As soon as their feet touched the ground, Balth poked Sam, shouting, “Tag, you’re it!” and immediately started running before Sam could process what was happening. When he realized Sam was still standing in his place, he stopped and turned. “Come on, Sammy! You’ll never catch me!” Balthazar laughed out loud and started running again.

Sam laughed and ran after Balthazar. They played for almost 20 minutes before they both collapsed on the green grass-turned orange by the setting sun. Sam was panting and laughing when Balthazar rolled over and flung an arm around Sam, hugging him as he rested his head on Sam’s shoulder. It was awkward for a moment but Sam felt the urge to kiss him. He caressed spiky, blonde hair for a minute before he straightened up and cupped Balthazar’s face and planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

It was quick and short. Balthazar was caught by surprise so he barely reacted.

Sam was a bit disappointed, and he felt very awkward. He thought he must have done something inappropriate; after all, this was his first date with a guy.

He looked away as his cheeks were taking on the color of his blood. Balthazar was more than gentle and understanding. He put his hand on Sam’s cheek, turning him gently and he approached slowly, all the while looking dotingly at him. He kissed his warm, red cheeks first, then moved on to his forehead, giving it its fair share of pecks. Finally, his lips found their way to Sam’s.

He kissed each lip separately, giving each its time.

Sam was starting to feel exasperated, his pants were tightening and he was sweating a lot.

Balthazar was more than an expert; he knew exactly what he was doing to him and he was loving it. He teased him for a while before kissing him passionately, allowing himself to lose control.

He pressed his tongue insistently against Sam’s lips, teasing the plump flesh and prompting Sam to gasp. Balthazar took the opportunity to dart his tongue into Sam’s mouth, finally tasting the sweetness that was Sam.

Soon, the intense kiss wasn’t enough, and Balthazar was growing impatient. He climbed on top of Sam and began rubbing his hardening manhood against Sam’s. Suddenly, his lips just weren’t enough. He wanted more. The Brit moved on to Sam’s neck, licking it and nibbling at it, grinding against Sam’s body and biting at the space between his neck and shoulders.

Sam’s hands drifted everywhere. He was hungry to feel every inch of the other boy. He grabbed at the pert, perky ass under his hands to push Balthazar into his body even harder while he instinctively arched his back. He wanted to completely melt into him, to be one with him, to just be inside of him and enjoy the warmth.

Suddenly, he stopped. He stopped everything. Stopped kissing back, stopped touching Balthazar; he even stopped breathing.

You see, he could only think of one thing: Gabriel. He could see his cocky smirk imprinted on his eyelids, his voice was ringing in his ears and his taste was filling his mouth, pushing Balthazar’s out.

Balthazar moved away when he realized something was off.

They were silent for a moment. Balth moved slowly to sit next to Sam, just looking at the setting sun.

After a while, he turned to a distant Sam, took a deep breath, and asked, “Gabriel, right?” His tone said it all, how sad and disappointed he was.

Apparently Balthazar had an eye for such things and he knew all along how our Sam felt towards Gabriel. He had asked him out in the hopes that he could charm him out of it and keep him all to himself. Obviously, that did not work out as he planned.

Sam was lost in thought; he couldn’t believe that after everything that boy had put him through, he still had feelings for him and still wanted to be with him.

‘Balthazar is an amazing guy,’ he thought to himself, ‘why can’t I just enjoy him? Why do I have to go for the one I know will break my heart!’

To say he was upset would be an understatement.

“Yea.” Just one word, one syllable and any kind of prospect with Balthazar had been ruined.

He took a deep breath, unwilling to look at Balthazar and filled with embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry, Balth. I didn’t mean to lead you on.” His voice faltered as he pushed back a tear and continued. “I just really thought I could do this and finally move on,” he said with his head hanging low.

Balthazar, being the amazing human being that he was, took Sam’s head in his hands, looked him straight in the eyes and said, “I understand. And I’m not upset. But I think you should tell him.”

Sam took another deep breath and was lost in thought again.

Balthazar got up and left, leaving Sam sitting there thinking, contemplating, trying to figure out a way to tell Gabe.

A couple of hours later, he had decided - tomorrow, he was going to walk up to Gabriel and tell him everything, let the ridicule come. He wasn’t about to let it stop him.

It was about time he told the snarky little trickster that he loved him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Destiel.

Castiel’s relationship with the eldest Winchester was blooming. Even with all the fighting that had been going on in the Winchester house, Cas was able to make Dean forget all about it.

They’d been dating for a long while now, and it was becoming a more mature and stable thing than before. They would see each other almost every day, and when one of them was busy, they would spend all night on the phone.

They reverted into teenagers just falling in love for the first time, and for the both of them it was true. Castiel had never liked anyone enough to go on a second date, and he also hadn’t been attracted to any of the girls he asked out; it was more of a show for his dad than anything else.

And Dean was always more of a player than a lover, and the nature of his life made it impossible to settle in for longer than a one night stand.

But now, they were nesting. Dean was making his home in Cas’ arms and it felt more like home than anything else in the world.

They would go on romantic dates, or Cas would cook for him and they would have candle lit dinners at home. He started to spend more time at Cas’ place than at home, and that made the fighting with his dad become unbearable. Until he finally burst and told him he was moving out.

“If you can’t accept me and my relationship with Cas, then I don’t want to live with you anymore!” he shouted at his father as a heated argument was coming to an end.

“Fine then, go! The hell if I care, you ungrateful little faggot!” his dad screamed back.

And so he started packing, not knowing where he’d go. He figured he might move in with Bobby, but when Cas got the news, he immediately asked him to move in with him and his brother. Dean was very reluctant in the beginning, but a little nagging from Cas pushed him. And so it was set, Dean was moving in with Cas and Gabe. Which meant all hell would break loose at home.

His father yelled and shouted and made a big fuss, but Dean would not let it discourage him.

“I’m a grown-ass man! There is nothing you can do. I love him, I’m moving in with him and you can’t stop me!” he taunted the angered older man.

 

It took him a couple of days to get everything together and just leave.

It was a while before he settled in completely. It was weird at first, sleeping next to someone every night. Don’t get me wrong, he loved it, but it was a lot to get used to. Gabriel was no walk in the park; his loud music and obnoxious behavior were enough to send anyone screaming to the looney bin.

It was a struggle, but it was one he was happy to tackle. A traditional family life was just what he needed, with dinners together and on a schedule. Cas kept a tight ship, even if Gabriel made things a bit hard.

No more frozen food or tv dinners. Even the fighting was better than at home.

They were starting to settle into a nice routine of one date night per week, with the rest being spent in front of the tv or doing chores.

That week’s date night was one day before Valentine’s Day, and they had both agreed that they didn’t care to celebrate such a holiday, so they went about their week as normal as possible.

This date was special, and for reasons Cas was ignorant of. Dean had prepared an entire evening for the both of them.

He borrowed a nice car from Bobby’s garage and he wore a sharp tux, asking Cas to do the same. He told him nothing of the plans, since he wanted everything to be a surprise.

They drove to the city, where Dean had made a reservation at the fanciest restaurant there. It was one that Cas had been wanting to try for ages. They were presented with a three course meal, with the fanciest of utensils and the classiest of waiters.

It was all so perfect, and that drove Cas to suspect that Dean would propose tonight. He had been expecting it for a few days now. Every time Dean would reach out, or start expressing his love, Castiel would get anxious. They did not order any dessert, so when two plates of Cas’ favorite, chocolate fondant, were brought to their table, he was certain. That was it; this was the moment.

A bit tacky for his taste, and very rom-com style, but he didn’t give it a second thought; it was what he wanted and he was just happy with Dean popping the question.

He poked at his plate a while before Dean asked, “What? Don’t you like it? I thought it was your favorite!” He was disappointed.

“No, it’s fine. I just…it’s nothing,” he said.

He ate his dessert carefully, chewing with extra caution just to make sure he wouldn’t swallow the ring or choke on it. When he finished up, he started staring at Dean hoping that maybe they switched the plates by accident but his lover finished his plate and called for the waiter to order champagne.

When he heard the word champagne he got excited again. ‘Oh, he put it in the champagne glass!’ he thought. But no ring was in sight and no confessions of endless love were made.

He twitched again when Dean reached for his pocket only to be discouraged by the sight of his wallet. Apparently he was going to pay and not propose.

After dinner they went to a ballet. It was Cas’ favorite - “Swan Lake” - and he was so excited he felt he could fly. During intermission, Cas thought Dean was about to pop the question when he got down on one knee, but to his dismay, Dean was only fixing up the shoe lace on his formal black shoes.

The entire night, as lovely as it was, was very disappointing. Castiel kept anticipating Dean’s proposal, only to be shot down by a different gesture. They walked around the city for a while before they got in the car and drove home. Throughout the entire drive, Castiel was looking very sad, finally Dean asked, “Babe? Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” His eyes were firm on the road, but he glanced every once in a while at his boyfriend.

“No, Dean, you were perfect. Everything was just amazing.” Despite his words, he had the most disappointed tone Dean had ever heard and it made his heart ache.

They were approaching the house. Dean kept pushing. “Then what’s wrong?” he asked, becoming worried.

“Nothing, I’m just really tired.” Which wasn’t a lie. The last time he had stayed up that late was back before his dad left.

The house was just around the corner when Dean stopped the car.

“I need to get the car back to Bobby’s. Do you mind getting out here?” he pleaded.

Cas sighed.

“Yes, sure, just don’t wake me when you get home.” He opened the door and stepped out of the car.

He walked slowly, pondering on the night and consoling himself by thinking what an awesome night it was, and how lovely it would have been if he hadn’t been expecting Dean to propose.He cursed the day he saw him at the jeweler.

It had happened a few days before, and it was by complete mistake. He wasn’t supposed to be out of work so soon, but something had happened and they left early. Ever since then, he had been waiting and anticipating. Every nice gesture that came out of Dean the past few days ended up being a disappointment for Cas.

The dark-haired man was walking with his head hanging low. When he got closer to home, he looked up and there it was. The floor was covered with rose petals, and the sides of the pavement from the front gate to the door were decorated by candles on each side.

At the front steps stood Dean, looking all sharp in his tuxedo, with a big smile on his face. When Cas made his way to him, he was led to the door and stopped just at the doorstep. Dean turned him around, took both his hands in his and sighed. “The first time I saw you, it was like this, minus all the rose petals and the candles,” he said with a nervous laugh. He cleared his throat and continued. “I was expecting a three hundred pound guy to open the door and I was ready for a fight.”

Cas laughed as a tear made its way down his cheek.

Dean wiped it away and said softly, “Instead, the most gorgeous man I have ever seen opened up and I was lost. I know it’s only been a few months, but, baby, I am more sure of this than anything else. I want to spend the rest of my life waking up to those beautiful blue eyes.”

Cas was now sniffling, unable to hold it in any longer.

“I love you, Castiel Novak, and I want to be with you for as long as I possibly can. I would even marry you if Gabriel lived with us forever.”

That last line shocked Castiel into a full body chuckle, and Dean thought he’d never looked more beautiful than he did now, crying and laughing at the same time.

He let go of one of Castiel’s hands and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a ring box. He got down on one knee, still holding Cas’ hand.

“So? Will you marry me?” he asked sheepishly.

As soon as he saw the ring box, Cas felt his breath hitch as the tears finally stopped flowing. After the question was finally asked, he starting crying again, leaving Dean on his knee with no answer.

“I’m starting to get tired here, babe. Are you not going to say yes?” he joked.

“Yes!” Cas exclaimed.

Dean slid the ring on his finger and got up to hug his now fiancé. They kissed long and hugged longer.

A while later Gabriel opened the door and jumped out. “Well? What did he say? I couldn’t hear!” he exclaimed.

The lovers exploded in laughter as all three of them walked inside.

“You assbutt! You led me on the entire night! Do you understand the amount of disappointment I was feeling? I hate you!” Castiel said cheerfully, not meaning a word.

“Did you think I didn’t notice you gawking at me from outside the jewelry store?! You are many things, Cas, but subtle ain’t one.”

They laughed as they walked to their bedroom, for the first time, as fiancés.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam plans to tell Gabriel he loves him. Valentine's day dance is here!

Sam’s plan was a complete bust. Every time he saw Gabriel and tried to approach him, his knees would grow weak and his stomach would ache. His entire body rejected the idea of talking to the other boy. He wasted the entire week without saying a word to him, just passing him by in the hallway, slowing down, looking at him and then hauling ass and moving faster than he was before.  
The entire school had heard about Sam and Balthazar dating, and that left Gabriel feeling bitter. He was a selfish person, and if he couldn’t have Sam, then he didn’t want anyone else to have him.  
He started being mean to Balthazar, who used to be one of his closest friends, and he avoided Sam altogether, trying to work through his feelings. He noticed the latter being weird towards him, but he didn’t think much of it.  
He never tried anything else with him. In his mind, Sam had rejected him and to him that meant he would stay out of his way for the rest of the year. No more pranks, but also no more attention.  
Charlie was more than happy about Sam dating. She was glad he finally decided to embrace himself and just go along with it.  
“So? What happened? How was it? Tell me everything!” her voice was skipping with excitement.  
Sam shook his head negatively, trying to convey a don’t go there feeling.  
Charlie stopped her babbling when she saw the look on Sam’s face.  
“Oh,” was all she could think of saying.  
“Yea,” was Sam’s only reply.  
She looked in Gabriel’s direction and asked, “Him?”  
Sam shrugged and that was all the answer Charlie needed.  
“Okay,” she said promptly.  
Over the next few days, Charlie mentioned nothing of the topic and neither did Sam.  
He tried so hard to talk to Gabriel. He tried to tell him - he even thought of texting him, but he knew it wasn’t the way to go.  
After a few weeks, Sam had given up on telling his beloved anything. So he went about his life as usual: school, Dean’s work, and then home. He was just fine loving Gabriel from a distance.  
Then came the Valentine’s Day dance. Sam and Charlie both had no dates. To be completely honest, he was hoping to ask Gabriel and that he’d say yes, but he never gathered the courage to do it. He was asked by Balthazar as a kind gesture to keep him from going alone, but he refused, claiming that he didn’t want to lead him on any longer. In all honesty, he was still hoping he could muster up the courage to ask Gabe. Since he never did, he was left dateless along with Charlie, so they had decided to go together. He wore a tuxedo and so did she. They strutted in and couldn’t help but snort at the sight of the space. It was the cheesiest, tackiest décor you could think of; pink hearts dangling from the roof, a disco ball that was clearly out of place, and pink ribbons. Pink ribbons everywhere.  
They laughed and snickered at the view and went straight to the punch table.  
They hung around there for a while before Charlie spotted the most beautiful girl in the room, one Jo Harvelle. She had never considered Jo as a potential love interest, since Jo was always the strict one who never let her hair down around anyone. But tonight, Jo smiled at her and kept eye contact for more than two seconds, which gave Charlie enough courage to make a move. She excused herself and went over to ask the blonde girl to dance before someone beat her to the punch. Jo was more than glad to accept.  
“I thought you’d never ask!” she said cheerfully as she grabbed the redhead’s hand and ran to the dance floor, tugging her along.  
So, Sam was left all alone. He stood there looking around, watching everyone go about their night. A wide smile cracked his face when he saw Charlie slow dancing with Jo, though he was a bit surprised since he had never pictured Jo with another woman. Now that he was looking, though, the two made a striking couple.  
He stood there for a while, just drinking punch and watching people, when a hand grabbed him and pulled him behind the curtains.  
To his surprise, it was Gabriel.  
He was shocked and speechless, though he managed to say one word, a squeaked-out Gabriel!, before he was cut off by a kiss.  
Gabriel’s lips were soft and silky, and it was the most mouthwatering kiss of all. Even better was that, for the first time, Gabriel didn’t push Sam away; he didn’t act like a complete and total ass. He even tugged Sam back in when they broke apart to gasp for air.  
The kiss was endless and when they finally pulled away from it, Sam had a shocked look on his face. This was not what he had expected of Gabriel, at all. But then again, it wasn’t the first time.  
Before Sam could say anything, Gabriel started talking. “Look, I know how weird this is. I know I tortured you for three months non-stop, and I led you on only to make fun of you when you told me about your feelings, and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Honestly, Sam, I’m a dick and I know I am, and there is no obvious reason why you should want to be with me. I’m a sadistic ass and I would say no to me. But I would regret it forever if I didn’t ask you - I mean, I can’t go through life wondering “What if?” and I shouldn’t be even asking you this but...”  
He faltered. He had managed to spill all of that in one breath, but those last few words were just stuck in his throat. He took a deep breath and blurted out, cheeks burning with emotion, “But I think I’m in love with you, completely and utterly, and I guess what I’m trying to ask you is... Be my valentine?”  
As Gabriel’s words registered, Sam found himself frowning. “Why now? You’ve been avoiding me for weeks!”  
“I just...seeing how happy Cas and Dean are made me realize that I don’t want to miss out on that. Sam, I know I’ve been a total ass to you, but I want to make it up to you,” Gabriel said sincerely.  
Sam had never seen Gabriel so guileless. Every emotion was plain to see on his face - the hope, the sorrow, and even the love he claimed to feel. Before he could say anything, the shorter teen continued.  
“I know we’re too young to get engaged or even think about getting married, but I wanted to give you this.” He reached deep into his pants pocket and pulled out…  
A Ring Pop.  
Sam felt his eyes begin to burn and he laughed. “Seriously?”  
“Hey, love me, love my candy. Besides, I’m working on a budget, here. I don’t exactly get paid to be as devilishly handsome as this.”  
Sam rolled his eyes. “You are, without a doubt, the most conceited, most annoying guy I’ve ever met.”  
Gabriel’s smile dropped minutely. He nodded and began to turn away. Sam’s hand gripped his fingers and tugged him back.  
“And I’ve never been more in love with you,” Sam whispered as he brushed a soft kiss against Gabriel’s lips before pulling away to smirk down at his official Valentine.  
Gabriel curled his fingers with Sam’s and reached up on his tiptoes, looking at Sam with pleading eyes, until the taller teen finally bent over and kissed him again. Like a fairytale ending, Carly Simon’s “You Are My Sunshine” played in the background.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank for reading.  
> Please leave kudos and comments if you liked it.  
> It's your comments that keep me going.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Ring Pop and a Valentine [Art for wibblywobblydemonydeducythings]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3367313) by [hopesetfree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopesetfree/pseuds/hopesetfree)




End file.
